The 'Secrets of Soil' exhibit at the Smithsonian (Photo credit: Smithsonian Institution, John Steiner and Joseph Talman)
The 'Secrets of Soil' exhibit at the Smithsonian (Photo credit: Smithsonian Institution, John Steiner and Joseph Talman)
The 'Secrets of Soil' exhibit at the Smithsonian (Photo credit: Smithsonian Institution, John Steiner and Joseph Talman)
Soil gets treated like dirt sometimes.
But soil is being displayed as a valuable
resource at the Smithsonian in Washington D.C.
Chuck Quirmbach reports:
Transcript
Soil gets treated like dirt sometimes.
But soil is being displayed as a valuable
resource at the Smithsonian in Washington D.C.
Chuck Quirmbach reports:
The Secrets of Soil exhibition includes samples from every US state and territory. It highlights
threats to soil.
The Soil Science Society of America is a main sponsor. Ellen Bergfeld is the CEO of the
Society.
She says major floods this year show erosion is still a big problem. Bergfeld also says some
farmers are plowing under land that was once put aside for conservation. Higher crop prices
have lowered enrollment in a government program called Conservation Reserve.
“And a lot of the contracts are coming up over the next few years so we’re going to see just a
tremendous number of acres coming out. And that does not bode well for the use of those soils.”
The soil exhibit will be at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History for about two
years, then travel around the US.
East Pioneers, MT (Photo courtesy of the Campaign for America's Wilderness)
Boulder-White Clouds, ID (Photo courtesy of the Campaign for America's Wilderness)
Tumacacori Highlands, AZ (Photo courtesy of the Campaign for America's Wilderness)
An environmental group is calling on Congress
to better protect some of the last wilderness areas of
the lower 48 states. Lester Graham reports the group
identifies ten wild spots it says are in trouble:
Transcript
An environmental group is calling on Congress
to better protect some of the last wilderness areas of
the lower 48 states. Lester Graham reports the group
identifies ten wild spots it says are in trouble:
The group, Campaign for America’s Wilderness, reports on pristine places that are
facing pressures from development and other actions the group sees as threatening.
Mike Matz heads up the environmental group. He says although there are some
restrictions on how the public lands are used, sometimes they’re not enough.
“The land managers often times need some additional tools to be able to prevent certain
damaging activities, whether it’s logging on national forests or mining on public lands.
And one of the most pervasive threats we see today is from off-road-vehicle
traffic that is rampant and unregulated.”
Off-road-vehicles are allowed on many of the sites, but Matz says the riders don’t
always stay on the trails and end up damaging areas. The group points out that
only 2.5% of the continental U.S. is protected as wilderness.
For The Environment Report, this is Lester Graham.
Wetlands in Michigan. (Photo by David Kenyon of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources)
A loon and its chick. (Photo courtesy of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources)
Environmentalists say they don’t like a new
federal rule for replacing wetlands that lie in the
path of a developer’s bulldozer. But federal agencies
say the rule clarifies what developers must do to keep
damage to wetlands at a minimum. Tracy Samilton reports:
Transcript
Environmentalists say they don’t like a new
federal rule for replacing wetlands that lie in the
path of a developer’s bulldozer. But federal agencies
say the rule clarifies what developers must do to keep
damage to wetlands at a minimum. Tracy Samilton reports:
Developers must try to build around wetlands, but if they can’t,
they can build new wetlands somewhere else.
Federal agencies say the new rule helps clarify what developers must do to
make sure the nation doesn’t lose more of its wetlands.
Jim Murphy is with
the National Wildlife Federation. He doesn’t like the rule.
“If you’re losing a high quality marsh or fen and getting a
golf pond even if you’re counting up acreage, and you’re getting more acreage,
you’re getting a much less valuable resource in return.”
Murphy says some studies show that up to 80% of these man-made
wetlands eventually fail. The new rule also allows developers to create a
new stream if they have to destroy one.
Murphy says there’s very little
evidence that a stream can ever be replaced.
Many environmental groups say that Edwards is doing a great job of supporting environmental issues, but some are arguing that his voting record says otherwise. (Photo by Dave Scull, courtesy of
johnkerry.com)
With concerns about the economy, the war on terror and the war in Iraq, politicians have not spent a lot of time on topics such as the environment. As part of a series of profiles on the presidential and vice presidential candidates, the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports that the candidate with the shortest record of public service is the candidate who talks the most about the environment on the campaign trail. Here’s a look at Democratic vice presidential candidate John Edwards:
Transcript
With concerns about the economy, the war on terror and the war in Iraq, politicians have not
spent a lot of time on topics such as the environment. As part of a series of profiles on the
presidential and vice presidential candidates, the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham
reports that the candidate with the shortest record of public service is the candidate who talks
the most about the environment on the campaign trail. Heres’a look at Democratic vice presidential
candidate John Edwards:
Senator Edwards thinks the Bush campaign is vulnerable on environmental issues. When asked about
his positions on the environment, he often begins by talking about the things he feels are at risk
under Bush administration.
“Over and over and over, whether it has to do with protecting our air, protecting our water,
whether we’re going to become energy independent in this country, protecting our natural
resources, making sure that we protect our lands, our national forests – all these issues
that are so important – making sure we don’t drill in the Arctic Wildlife Refuge, all these
things are important because we have a responsibility to our children and our grandchildren
to leave this planet better than the way we found it. And that’s what we’ll do when John Kerry’s
our President.”
Although John Kerry has not spent a lot of time talking about the environment himself, Senator
Edwards knows that over 20 years in the U.S. Senate Kerry has a lifetime approval rating from the
League of Conservation Voters of 92 percent. The average Democrat has an approval rating of 70
percent… the average Republican an approval rating of 13 percent.”
Betsey Loyless is the League of Conservation Voters vice president of policy. She says
Edwards’ own record on the environment is not nearly as extensive.
“Senator Edwards has a short record on the environment because he’s been in the Senate only
one term, but his record has been, I think, has been quite good for a one-term senator. And,
he has been a leader on clean air issues. This administration, the Bush administration, had
pushed to weaken Clean Air Act standards as they apply to these old grandfathered power plants
that are the biggest of polluters. Senator Edwards led the charge to tell the Bush administration
to stop that policy on behalf of power plant operators and utilities.”
Senator Edwards did not get that job done. The Bush policy to allow power plants to make
improvements without updating pollution control equipment was put into place.
John Edwards talks about that losing battle while he’s on the campaign trail. He says he –
at least – wanted studies to see if the experts thought the changes in the regulations on the
old coal-fired power plants would affect human health.
“I mean, the laws had been there for 25 years. Can’t we take six months to figure out if you
change them what it’s going to do to people? And they refused to do it. Here’s why: they know
the answer. They know exactly. They were for it because the big energy companies are for it.
It’s just no more complicated than that. And so, that’s one example of the fight.”
Senator Edwards’ fight hasn’t been going on very long. Before his election to the U.S. Senate,
he held no legislative seat.
Jack Betts is an editorial writer and columnist for the Charlotte Observer. He’s followed
Edwards’ political career for the last few years. Betts says the environmental groups in
Edwards’ home state of North Carolina seem to approve of the senator’s positions.
“John Edwards in his Senate campaign six years ago was identified as the more likely
to be a strong advocate for the environment. And I think that helped him to election then.
And I don’t think he’s done anything to reverse those expectations about how he would stand
on the environment in the future.”
Senator Edwards’ critics say really it’s hard to say how he’d stand on any issue. They point to
his voting record for the last couple of years, noting that he was often absent. He’s missed
votes while on the road campaigning to be the Democrats’ presidential nominee… and now
campaigning as vice presidential candidate. But the environmental groups seem confident
that as vice president, John Edwards would fully support what they would expect to be a
pro-environment Kerry administration.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, this is Lester Graham.
The 'Secrets of Soil' exhibit at the Smithsonian (Photo credit: Smithsonian Institution, John Steiner and Joseph Talman)
